In a previous post, I mentioned the strong attendance at the Beyond Budgeting Round Table’s annual conference in San Francisco.

I’m going to share a few other high-level conference insights below. However, if you want a more interactive discussion, please tune in to our Post-Conference Webcast at 10 a.m. CST on Tuesday, June 9. The webcast will include a rundown of the event by featured conference speaker Bjarte Bogsnes, who is currently heading up a Beyond Budgeting implementation at the Norwegian oil company StatoilHydro, which is Scandinavia’s largest company. Bogsnes is also the chairman of BBRT Europe and one of the few persons to lead two different Beyond Budgeting implementation efforts, having previously done so for Borealis.

The key things I took from the conference were:

•A Greater Sense of Urgency: Many companies have instituted travel restrictions as a cost reduction measure. As a result, it appeared that many more of this year’s attendees were focused on finding immediate Beyond Budgeting solutions.

•Impressive Implementation Progress: The urgency for a material change in the status quo was evident. Many conference attendees were much further along, having already begun implementation efforts. As a result, there were fewer discussions about the need for change and more talk about what changes were necessary and how they could be successfully introduced. Direct implementation experience was in high demand.

•A Growing Interest in Tools: Given that the overall discussion centered on implementation, there was greater interest on technology tools that support these efforts. Software exhibitors at the conference saw brisk traffic, and the attendees were asking much more specific questions about the tools’ capabilities. Also, specific implementation processes and real-life case examples were in high demand. Moving away from a static traditional budget and toward an adaptive planning approach is no longer a dream but rather a desired necessity to complete for “best in class” status in a global marketplace.

Finally, the new BBRT Implementation Guide, an online tool available to BBRT members, was also in high demand, given the increase in companies progressing toward implementation. Instead of being afraid to experiment, attendees were actually taking charge to see where their organization rated on their readiness for change and what needed to be done to implement the Beyond Budgeting principles and framework. ###